It is the story of Nicolas, the son of a wealthy but problematic family, in which the father, played by Iosseliani himself, is a hopeless philandering drunk, and the mother is a ruthless businesswoman. Nicolas sets out to rid himself of his family's wealthy trappings; he sallies forth from the mansion and mixes with the city's homeless - getting a menial job washing up in a cafe, and having various thwarted adventures. The literally translation of the original French title “Farewell To The Cow Country”, is an old sailors' phrase that expresses a feeling of contempt for dry land. The characters in the film can be compared with sailors who yearn for the sea while they are on land, and at sea are homesick for land. The narrative is again presented in Iosseliani’s disjointed and deadpan way and the film provides a light-hearted view of people's attempts to escape their fate.
Otar Iosseliani
Otar Iosseliani was born in 1934 in Tbilisi, Georgia, where he studied music composition, conducting and piano. In 1953 he went to Moscow to study mathematics, but in two years he quit and entered the State Film Institute where his teacher was among others, Alexander Dovzhenko. While still a student in film direction, he began working in Tbilisi, first as an assistant director and then as an editor of documentaries. When his medium-length film “Aprili” (1961) was denied theatrical distribution, Iosseliani abandoned filmmaking and in 1963-1965 worked first as a sailor on a fishing boat and then at a metallurgical factory. When his 1976 film “Pastorali"" was shelved for a few years and then granted only a limited distribution, Iosseliani grew skeptical about getting any artistic freedom in his homeland. In 1984 he moved to France where he made “Favorites Of The Moon”. The film was distinguished with a Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. His films have been presented in major film festivals and have won major prizes.
